There will be no rest for the weary as the Los Angeles Dodgers begin a weekend series with San Francisco Giants likely needing to sweep in order to potentially win a sixth consecutive National League West title.
The Colorado Rockies completed a four-game sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies, putting them one game ahead of the Dodgers in the NL West standings. Los Angeles enters play Friday a disappointing 7-9 against San Francisco this season.
The Giants themselves are reeling a bit, as another disappointing year led to the firing of general manager Bobby Evans this week. Like the Arizona Diamondback, San Francisco has already been eliminated from postseason contention but can play spoiler to the Dodgers.
Madison Bumgarner appears to have been mindful of that possibility, as he specifically requested to pitch in the final series of the regular season, David Vassegh explained on “Lunchtime With Rodney and Roggin,” via AM 570 L.A. Sports Radio:
“From what I understand, a couple of weeks ago, Madison Bumgarner saw the schedule and walked into Bruce Bochy’s office and told him point blank, ‘I want to pitch against the Dodgers.’ So that tells you where Madison Bumgarner’s head has been the for the last few weeks.”
Bumgarner is 0-1 with a 3.75 ERA against the Dodgers this season. He pitched six innings in each of the outings, which both came at Dodger Stadium. Bumgarner had his final start of the year pushed back from Wednesday to Friday to accommodate the request.
When the Giants last closed out a regular season against the Dodgers, they swept them at AT&T Park to earn a spot in the 2016 NL Wild Card Game. The Giants then defeated the New York Mets but were eliminated by the Chicago Cubs in four games in the NL Division Series.
